What is the story about?
If only they could shoot over 70% every half.
The Sixers evened up the mini-series, beating the Toronto Raptors 115-102 Monday night, tying the season series at 2-2.
Tyrese Maxey got off to such a hot start that no heroics were needed this night, leading all scorers with 33 points going 10-of-16 from the floor.
Back in the lineup Joel Embiid hardly missed a beat going for 27 points shooting 9-of-17 from the floor along with eight rebounds and four assists. VJ Edgecombe had a career-night from beyond
the arc with 15 points going 5-of-6 from deep with eight assists, but didn’t play much in the fourth after appearing to tweak something in his groin.
Paul George chipped in a couple big second half baskets to finish with 15 as well on 5-of-13 shooting and Immanuel Quickley led Toronto with 18.
Philly was back to having their whole roster available while the Raptors were down RJ Barrett and Jakob Poeltl.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The Raptors making their throwbacks black is such a shame because the Sixers couldn’t wear their throwbacks. Along with taking away a game that could have had a classic look, they also just don’t look as good as the jersey the Raptor is wearing at center court. A shame indeed.
- It was a much different start from the night before with four of the five Sixers making their first shots of the night, most of them strolling into open jumpers. The Raptors started even better with Brandon Ingram and Quickley each making their first three shots. When they did start missing they picked right back up from the night before on the glass, rebounding three of their first four misses.
- The Big 3 dominated production, scoring 37 of their 45 points in the quarter. Embiid didn’t have to do much more than picking and popping while George got to the line a couple of times and knocked down a three.
- No one was a bigger driver though of the Sixers’ absurd 82.4% shooting percentage start than Maxey. He dropped 18, raining down three-pointers from behind the arc while sprinkling in some lightning fast drives as well. The only knock is that he was one of three Sixers to actually miss a shot as they took a 17-point lead.
Second Quarter
- The bench was able to get in on this white hot start as well. Quentin Grimes hit his first two shots, one was an old fashion three-point play while the other more traditional. Jabari Walker not only hit a three as well but also put back one of the rare misses in this game.
- The Sixers literally could not be playing any better than the start they got off too. Edgecombe took his turn to cook off the dribble and hit a pair of pull-up threes himself. Embiid not just continued to move better, but threw down a dunk so ferocious it made a defender get out of the way for the first time in quite some time.
- Toronto certainly was not able to keep up with this torrid pace for the whole half, but they shot especially poorly in the second going 28.6% from the field. Sending them to the line nine times hardly impeded the Sixers in extending the lead to 29 at the half.
Third Quarter
- Embiid might have cooled off by their standards, missing his first two shots of the second half, but he continued to frustrate the Raptors by getting to the line with the swipe through. Edgecombe continued to enjoy the hot hand, quickly burying his fifth three, tying a young career-high with plenty of ball game left.
- As a team the Sixers did start the quarter 3-of-11 from the floor, which was actually a considerable cool off. Those misses allowed Toronto to shift the pace their way for the first time all night, making a small dent in the lead. Collin Murray-Boyles is someone who has already crushed them on run-outs quite a bit in his young career.
- The three turnovers towards the end of the quarter helped that momentum build for the Raptors as they held the Sixers to three field goals for the final six minutes of the third. After giving up a wide open cut that got the lead under 20, Maxey and George hit a couple of tough shots off the drive to keep it a 22-point game.
Fourth Quarter
- Momentum stayed with Toronto as the Sixers continued to shoot themselves in the foot. They turned it over four more times, two of those being offensive fouls. The offense had stagnated, a tough midrange from PG and an Embiid putback were the only baskets they got to fall. When they fronted Embiid he was able to get the seal for an easy dunk but his illegal screen on the following possession killed their flow once again.
- As the end of the game drew near the chants from the Toronto faithful to put Kyle Lowry in the game got louder and louder. The Sixers hadn’t quite gotten put the game away enough for that yet. Holding the Raptors scoreless for over three minutes gave them a great opportunity but they only mustered a pair of free throws themselves during this time.
- The Sixers went five minutes themselves without a field goal after that Embiid seal. A lot of their isos were unsuccessful, they finally got a basket running a pick and roll with Maxey and Embiid. An isolation from Maxey though did lead to a crazy off-balance three after getting his defender to bite on the pump fake.
- The Raptors didn’t fall down by 20 again, but they couldn’t get close enough that they waived the white flag with a little over two minutes to go, speeding up the process of obliging the crowd’s wishes and getting Lowry in the game. It was quite the ovation for Lowry and a well-deserved moments for him and those fans.
